1. The Field of the Present Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to motorized pool cover systems for use with swimming pools, and more particularly, but not necessarily entirely, to motorized pool cover systems with gear assemblies for selectively transferring power from an input shaft to one of two output shafts.
2. Description of Related Art
A dog gear is a sliding selector mechanism that is coupled to an input shaft. A dog gear is typically splined to an output shaft, meaning that the dog gear has teeth that fit into slots on the output shaft, forcing the output shaft to rotate with it. The advantage to a dog gear is that its teeth allow the gear to move back and forth with respect to the output shaft to thereby selectively engage and disengage the output shaft. A double dog gear refers to a gear that is able to selectively engage two output shafts. A double dog gear is typically symmetric: it slides between two gears and has a synchromesh and teeth on each side in order to lock either gear.
In the past, double dog gear mechanisms have been employed in automatic pool cover installations. In particular, double dog gear mechanisms have been utilized to open and close pool covers by selectively coupling a motor shaft to one of cord spool shaft and a cover drum shaft, the spool comprising a take-up real for a cable utilized to pull the cover closed and the cover drum utilized to roll-up the pool cover. These previously available double dog gear mechanisms included two interlocking teeth, with each tooth having a moderate slope on one edge and a much steeper slope on the other edge. As such, these double dog gear mechanisms operated similar to ratchets, meaning that the teeth would only engage in one direction and would free spin in the other direction.
One drawback to previously available double dog gears is their relatively high failure rate. In particular, when the motor turns and the drive gear begins to move it has to rotate between 90 and 180 degrees before it becomes fully engaged with the pulley system that slides the cover on and off. This causes the drive gear to engage the pulley at a high rate of speed and results in galling (a type of wear caused by friction between two interlocking surfaces that is common when metals slide while touching other metals), grinding, and excessive wear. This condition causes damage such as: broken gears, prematurely worn or razor sharp gear teeth edges, broken ropes, the cover coming out of the track, and even the loosening of the mounting screws as a result of flexing when the cover is pushed more to one side of the pool. Sometimes this can even cause the system to stall, which in turn, locks the drive components and prevents the cover from opening and closing potentially leading to an unsafe condition.
Another drawback to previously available double dog gear mechanisms was the inability of the gear mechanisms to be installed on either side of the pool cover. In particular, in pool installations, the drive motor for the pool cover may be installed on either side of the pool cover depending, for example, on the location of the power supply. Previously available double dog gear mechanisms were side specific, meaning that they could not be utilized for both left and right side installations. Thus, pool installers would have to specifically order double dog gear mechanisms dependent upon the side of the pool cover that the motor was installed. This would often times lead to confusion if the wrong part was accidently ordered or delivered. Thus, it would be an advantage over the prior art to provide a double dog gear that could be utilized for either a left or right motor installation.
The prior art is thus characterized by several disadvantages that are addressed by the present disclosure. The present disclosure minimizes, and in some aspects eliminates, the above-mentioned failures, and other problems, by utilizing the methods and structural features described herein. The features and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the present disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.